QUAAAAACK: Five-star forward Kwame Evans Jr. commits to Oregon

When Oregon lost the commitments of incoming freshman Dior Johnson and five-star 2023 recruit Mookie Cook in a span of a few weeks in June, it seemed as though the Ducks were headed in the wrong direction on the recruiting trail. Instead, Dana Altman and his staff could be gearing up for quite the haul in the current cycle.

Tuesday, it began with Oregon pulling in a commitment from five-star small forward Kwame "KJ" Evans Jr. as the Baltimore native picked the Ducks over a final group that included Pac-12 foe Arizona along with Auburn and Kentucky.

The 6-foot-9 wing prospect took an official visit to Oregon early in year, and Altman's program had all the buzz at that time. However, shortly after that trip Arizona turned up the heat and hosted the No. 13-rated prospect in the 2023 class for an official visit.

The Wildcats ended up gaining the momentum in the recruitment, but in recent days the tide began to shift in favor of the Ducks.

It all became official Tuesday with Evans now joining in-state point guard Jackson Shelstad as the second member of Oregon's class.

Evans has emerged as an elite-level recruit in recent years, and exploded onto the scene of the last year as he went through his junior season at Montverde Academy in Florida.

His ability to play on the perimeter at his size has intrigued plenty of programs across the country, and will now give Altman a unique weapon to build the roster around next year.

There has been increasing buzz that Cook, who is from Portland and never removed the Ducks from his list, could ultimately end up teaming up with Evans in Eugene. Cook is currently rated as the No. 8 prospect in the Rivals150 for 2023.

Evans, whose father starred at George Washington, is the eighth five-star recruit to commit to Oregon since 2015.